Girl, 8, reports suspicious incident at Fleming School after pulled into bushes by male

Deputies asking for information on incident

Child Safety Tips
The Logan County Sheriff s Office urges parents to review the following tips in preventing child abductions and to teach their children about stranger safety:

• Children should never talk to strangers. Explain to them that a stranger is anyone they don t know. .

• If they are home alone, they shouldn't answer the door or tell anyone on the phone that they are alone.

• Always make sure you know where your child is and who they are with.

• Children should never go into a house with a friend that is unknown to the parent or accept rides from friends who are not known to the parent.

• Teach children not to be vulnerable to "lure tactics" such as someone approaching the child, acting very sad, and asking the child to please help find his missing pet. Help them to understand that adults should never be approaching and asking children for help.

• Children and parents should agree on a code word to be used by anyone other than the parent who would be sent to pick up a child in case of an emergency.

• We know that it is important that your children know their address and phone number, but be sure that they know never to give out the information to strangers.

• If the child is being followed by a vehicle, he should quickly turn around and run in the opposite direction to a place of safety. It will take someone in a vehicle some time to get turned around, hopefully allowing the child time to get to safety.

• Teach your child that there is always someone to help them, and they have the right to be safe.

• If approached by someone who makes the child uncomfortable, the child should immediately run away and make noise, drawing attention to his or her situation. Rather than just screaming, the child should shout something specific such as "stranger get away from me leave me alone this is not my parent help."

• If followed or made uncomfortable in any way, the child should always tell you or another adult right away.

• If the child is attacked for something of value that he has, he should immediately give it up rather than risk harm.

• Consider role playing with your children using scenarios that they could face and what basic safety precautions they should use.

• Make sure that your children know that they can always discuss with you things that cause them concern or make them feel uncomfortable.

• Most importantly, establish a relationship with your child where they are comfortable coming to you with anything.

Logan County investigators are looking into an incident in Fleming this afternoon, after an 8-year-old girl reported being pulled into bushes by an unidentified male.

The male, who was hiding in the bushes near the north end of the Fleming School football field, came out of the bushes to pull her in, according to a Logan County Sheriff's Office news release.

He then reportedly pushed her back out of the bushes.

The girl told investigators she was screaming and fighting to get away from the male, whom she described as taller and wearing a black shirt, blue jacket and a hoodie over his head. She couldn't determine the male's age.

No injuries or threats were made during the incident, and the girl and two other classmates ran to Fleming School to report the incident.

LCSO Investigator Joe McBride said the incident would have happened over the “lunch hour” but couldn't give an exact time.

He said no one was picked up on scene, and investigators still don't know whether the male was an older kid or an adult. The incident, he said, was like a similar case in Merino in which an 11-year-old girl reported being chased to school in October, but “this one seemed a bit more suspicious.”

The LCSO is asking for any information that the public may have concerning the male or other suspicious incidents in the Fleming area. To report any tips, contact Investigator Shane Schliesser at 970-522-2578.

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“All we're asking is that if something went on that went unreported, they'd report it now,” McBride said.

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